Free Silence by Tyler Vance Page B

green plasma. It was at the
very precipice of collapse.  
    ‘ You can do this Mr. Wall,’
Sheikoh encouraged. ‘I believe in you!’
    He took a deep breath,
closed his eyes, and loosened the muscles in his anxious arms. A
phrase glanced through Sheikoh’s thoughts. You’ll always be my hero. He wasn't
totally sure who it was referring to.
    The concrete
wall?
    Or Emili?
    For a second could almost see
her.
    Sheikoh stood there, for a moment
procrastinating; this was going to hurt. Then burned,
heat-shattered stones began to trickle down the side of Indigo’s
cover. It was now or never. Sheikoh squeezed his eyes shut, took a
deep breath and pulled the trigger.  
    Arms jerked skywards, Sheikoh was
blasted back, as the backlash of force blew the chamber of his
pistol into bits. Hurtling through the air, he felt his gun
wrenched free from its trigger-guard. If it hadn’t been detachable,
his right index finger would have been torn off his hand. As it
was, he’d almost-certainly broken it. Sheikoh slammed onto his
back. His breath gasped out and his eyes popping open.
    His fuzzy sight stuttered at the edges
of focus as he lay there. He objectively noticed that Indigo had
burst out of his hiding spot, screaming and firing his assault
rifle wildly. Then the ganglord stopped and looked around, at a
loss. Sheikoh wheezed a giggled. And then Indigo was laughing with
him. It was like they’d just realized they were still
alive.
    Their harsh, crazy-sounding laughter
burned bright with chaos and energy. The harsh sound echoed
hollowly around them discordantly, out of place among the death. A
trickle of wind gusted, twisting a small cloud of ash from the
remains of the dead men.
    Sheikoh lay on the ground stuttering
out gasps of manic laughter, surveying the devastated, charred-
black alley through both eyes now; his left eye was finally able to
see blurred shapes through the formless, rainbow shock of the flash
grenade.
    Some criminal mastermind
you are, Sheikoh silently berated
himself . You let your guard down. If it hadn’t been for his former enemy he’d be
one of those blackened bodies lying in the rubble.
    Indigo’s hysteria had subsided to a
gasping chortle. He stood ten feet away panting, hands leaning on
his knees. Sheikoh was unable to quell a grudging camaraderie for
the ganglord. When Sheikoh’d been blind and helpless Indigo had
been the only thing between him and death. He still wasn’t sure he
trusted Indigo, but if it hadn’t been for him, those gunslingers
would have picked Sheikoh off without a second thought. He
shivered. His mind’s eye dredged up the hours of target practice
that he’d spent shattering glass bottles. He could almost feel the
plasmafire burning lethal holes in his body…
    Sheikoh shook his head, they’d
survived. He had no reason to worry about an imaginary death.
Indigo came over and helped him up. He met Sheikoh’s eyes, flashing
a white, appreciative smile. Sheikoh noticed that the ganglord was
still breathing heavy.
    “ Worka’ beauty, kid! I
thought that flash had knocked you outta action! What did you do to
‘em all?” Indigo asked with wonder through a raw voice.
    “ Overloaded my guns core,”
Sheikoh dead-panned. In his peripheral vision, he saw the
ganglord’s expression flicker with comprehension.
    “ So you don’t have a gun
now?” asked Indigo in a strange, smiling voice.
    Sheikoh nodded warily looking at the
muscular man now, full in the face. His eyes were sparkling with a
strange amusement.
    “ Not until I pick up a new
one,” said Sheikoh without inflection. Indigo’s smile widened a few
teeth.
    “ Dangerous city, mate. You
of all people should know not to leave home unarmed.” Indigo
commented. His tone was full of suppressed meaning.
    Come on… really ? He’d just saved
Indigo’s life. Annoyance mixed with apprehension, as he stared at
the enormous, grinning man across from him. He suddenly noticed
that Indigo was still holding his gun, a sheared